Amidst growing tensions within the I.N.D.I.A bloc in West Bengal over seat-sharing, TMC leader Mamata Banerjee asserted on Friday that her party is prepared to contest all 42 Lok Sabha seats independently if not accorded "due importance," news agency PTI reported. Banerjee, also the chief minister, communicated this stance during a closed-door organisational meeting of the party's Murshidabad district unit — a region with a significant minority population, traditionally considered a Congress stronghold.
In the meeting, she urged party leaders to prepare for the electoral battle, stressing the need for the TMC's success in all three Lok Sabha seats in the district.
In the 2019 elections, Congress managed to retain only the Baharampur seat, held by its five-time MP and state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
"Our party supremo Mamata Banerjee clearly stated that the TMC is one of the most important partners of the INDIA bloc. But in Bengal, if RSP, CPI, CPI(M) are given more importance by excluding us, we will carve our own path, and preparations should be made to fight and win in all the 42 seats," said a senior TMC leader told PTI requesting anonymity.
The CPI(M)-led Left Front, Congress, and the TMC are part of the 28-party strong I.N.D.I.A opposition bloc. However, in West Bengal, the CPI(M) and Congress have aligned against the TMC and BJP.
Another TMC leader, requesting anonymity, mentioned, “The party chief said that we need to make preparations to win all three Lok Sabha seats. When one of our MLAs, Humayun Kabir, pointed out that Adhir Chowdhury is a factor in the minority-dominated district, Banerjee declined to attach much importance to this assertion, saying TMC will taste success if it puts up a united fight," PTI quoted the leader as saying.
Fissures within the I.N.D.I.A bloc have become evident, particularly between key allies, Congress and TMC, regarding seat-sharing for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal.
The TMC's offer of two seats based on Congress' 2019 Lok Sabha election result was deemed insufficient by the latter, escalating tension between the two parties.
Banerjee's remarks come close on the heels of Chowdhury, a vocal TMC critic, asserting that the Congress wouldn't "beg" for seats from the Trinamool Congress.
In the 2019 elections, the TMC secured 22 seats, Congress won two, and BJP bagged 18 seats in the state. Chowdhury, also the Congress leader in Lok Sabha, won the Baharampur seat, while Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury, a former Union minister, secured a third consecutive win from the Malda Dakshin seat.
The TMC boss, expressing confidence in an alliance between the TMC, Congress, and the Left in West Bengal last November, had her proposal swiftly dismissed by arch-rival CPI (M) and criticised by some Congress leaders.
Days later, she accused the two parties of aligning with the BJP, affirming that the TMC would confront the saffron camp in West Bengal.
Last week, the TMC decided to abstain from an I.N.D.I.A bloc virtual meeting, emphasizing the necessity for Congress to recognize its limitations in West Bengal and permit the ruling party to spearhead the state's political battle.
The Trinamool Congress had previously allied with the Congress in the 2001 assembly polls, 2009 Lok Sabha elections, and the 2011 assembly polls, leading to the ousting of the CPI(M)-led Left Front government of 34 years.